Dubai tower to be tallest in Middle East and Europe

Work on the construction of the third tallest pair of towers in the world is well underway in Dubai. Hyder is the lead consultant for The Emirates Project, which is one of the biggest building projects ever undertaken in the Middle East. The taller of the two towers will be the highest in the Middle East and Europe, and ninth in the world.

The scheme comprises a 350m high office tower providing 68,500m2 of space and an adjacent 305m high hotel tower with 400 bedrooms and an 800-seat banquet hall. The three-storey podium linking the towers will contain 5,000m2 of retail space, which can be expanded by a further 3,800m2. Each tower will be topped by a 44m spire.

The office tower is being constructed in structural steel and the hotel in reinforced concrete. Foundations comprise 200 bored friction piles up to 47m long and 1.2m diameter with a 1.5m pile cap. Cladding is silver coloured glass and metal panels, while the podium will be clad in granite. Hyder carried out extensive wind tunnel testing as part of the design.

Hyder's Dubai and Sydney offices played a key part in the design and set up an extensive international IT network. The towers have now reached the 30th level.

Hyder is civil and structural engineer. Architect is Noor Group Consultants International. M&E consultants are London-based Donald Smith, Seymour and Rooley in association with Mitchell Partnership of Toronto. Construction manager is Turner Steiner International of New York.

As well as being lead consultant,



The towers are 82m apart and



to link up the design work being carried out around the world